This invention relates to the combination of a flight attendant's seat in a passenger airplane and a means for permitting a wheelchair confined person, ease in transportation; and more particularly, this invention relates to a folding wheelchair assembly which at one stage functions as a wall supported folding seat arrangement for use by a flight attendant.
Airline passengers requiring a wheelchair are generally boarded first on an airplane, with the assistance of flight attendants and transferred from a conventionally designed wheelchair to a designated seating area that can accommodate a wheelchair adjacent thereto. Once aboard the airplane the handicapped passenger is pretty much restricted to the confines of his or her seat. Therefore, commercial passenger airplanes have an in-flight need to accommodate handicapped passengers that are confined to a wheelchair and to provide some means onboard the airplane for handicapped persons to leave their seat and go down narrow aisles to use the lavatory facilities, with or without assistance from flight attendants. It is virtually impossible to maneuver a conventionally sized wheelchair down the narrow aisle of a passenger compartment in a commercial airliner; and in the event of an aircraft emergency requiring the evacuation of all passengers, it is extremely difficult to evacuate an invalid person without the assistance of a wheelchair.
Generally, there is no wheelchair onboard a commercial passenger airplane for use by handicapped passengers that can be maneuvered down the aisle of the passenger compartment. Also, public transportation vehicles generally lack equipment for mobility of disabled persons requiring a wheelchair. There is no doubt that passengers requiring the assistance of a wheelchair would feel a sense of relief in using lavatory facilities if a wheelchair could be made that could maneuver down the narrow aisle with the assistance of an attendant. The interior size and shape of public transportation aircraft, vehicles, ships, trains, etc. are primarily dictated by cost i.e., by the lowest seat cost per mile; and this generally results in narrow aisles, cramped lavatories, limited stowage volume, etc., which in all, result in very little consideration for the travel mobility of handicapped persons and their need for greater space accommodations. Known folding type wheelchairs have to be stowed in special compartments and take up valuable space which is of major concern to the airlines: and where do you stow the generally folding type of wheelchair aboard an airplane without taking up valuable revenue space.
Airline flight attendants or stewardesses, are required to be seated and restrained with a seat belt during takeoff or landing operation of the aircraft and when the aircraft is flying through turbulent weather conditions. Sometimes they occupy a passenger type seat but in most instances, they occupy a seat which is located in a passageway or area requiring passenger ingress or egress. Typically, this seat is secured to a vertical bulkhead for structural support and generally folds up automatically when unoccupied.